Job for Astros' video review team is to see it like umps will call it

Astros video coordinator Jim Summers, one of two men charged with seeing if manager Bo Porter needs to approach an umpiring crew with a replay challenge, has at his disposal numerous camera angles from which to view plays. It's imperative that he reach a conclusion within 15 seconds.

Pete Putila, a 24-year-old who took to baseball instead of becoming a fourth-generation coal miner, handles the Astros' road reviews.

The introduction of Major League Baseball's replay system this year has empowered at least one off-field staffer on all 30 teams to directly impact on-field play. A behind-the-scenes whiz can occasionally mean the difference between a win and a loss.

The Astros never want to challenge without hearing from the flight deck first, placing heavy pressure on men who aim to reach a conclusion within 15 seconds, ideally 10.

"Either I'm calling them or they're calling me," said Summers, who can watch a play four of five times in that span. "I have to have an answer."

Translator

To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.

But the work is tedious, if not mind-numbing, and that's why the Astros halved the job.

"You could do everything right for 82⁄3 innings, but that could not be enough," Putila said. "The key is just being completely focused every single pitch."

Different roads

These two amount to the Astros' odd couple: Putila, technically the Astros' baseball operations coordinator, and Summers, the video coordinator.

Raised in Carmichaels, Pa., a two-stoplight town, Putila moved up the ladder in typical fashion. He's cast in the mold of most young baseball executives, speaking with a calm incisiveness although, at 6-5, he is taller than most everyone.

A former mining engineer, Putila's father now runs a family sheet-metal business, and his four sons have gone their own way too. Putila was studying sports management at West Virginia when he got his big break, an Astros baseball operations internship in 2011.

"This is the first time I've gotten to travel with the team," Putila said. "It's neat to have an impact on the box score."

Summers has been with the team in an official capacity since 2001, when Larry Dierker handpicked him. The video technology he uses received an upgrade of roughly $300,000 to $400,000 this offseason, general manager Jeff Luhnow said. At Minute Maid Park, there are 360-degree views of batters, in high definition, because of seven new cameras.

Summers, old enough to be Putila's father, might qualify as the most interesting man in baseball. Raised in Sacramento, Summers has an expertise and geniality that do not match the stereotype of a man with his hulking frame or background.

His mother worked as a comedienne in the 1960s, so Summers traveled often. He was one of California's top wrestlers in high school and drew interest from schools like Iowa, but college was never his plan.

"When I was 7 or 8, I watched a movie called 'The Green Berets' with John Wayne," Summers said. "And I thought, 'Smart. Weapons. Knew how to fight.' This is what I wanted to be."

Summers said he graduated high school on a Tuesday and was on his way to the Green Berets, the U.S. Army's Special Forces, on a Wednesday. He said he served from 1977-83 and speaks four languages: English, Spanish and two dialects of Arabic.

As one would imagine, deciding whether to challenge a play at the plate isn't the most serious matter Summers has tackled. He has amazing stories, although some missions remain classified.

"When you're 17 years old and you go in and they teach you basically the mentality that you think you can walk on water, it's quite an experience " Summers said. "It was very maturing."

When Summers was ready to move on, he answered a blind ad in the Wall Street Journal. Three interviews later, he was hired to be Malcolm Forbes Sr.'s bodyguard.

Summers eventually went overseas and into dangerous settings again, as a contractor, before fully bowing out. He saw "Charlie Wilson's War" in person. He has undergone seven knee operations.

"It took me two weeks to walk out of the jungle," he said of a parachuting accident in the Costa Rica area. "The Green Berets, we call them numbers. Eventually, the numbers run out. Which means that the next time around may be your number. It's a probability. A permutation of days - we say so many hours on the ground, and your numbers start running."

Summers never meant to wind up in Texas. He was on a flight from New York to Los Angeles when he met a pair of women who were disembarking at his stopover in Houston. He went with them.

He saw the future

All major league teams are afforded the same feeds to look at replays, but what they do with those feeds depends on the club, Summers said. Certainly, there will be some variability in the skill of the reviewers.

Software from a company called Hawk-Eye, whose review technology is widely used in tennis, is available.

"There's a software that takes all of the 15 camera angles," Putila said. "It allows you to configure the formats and everything and play them at the same time and play them frame by frame. There's just a lot of keyboard shortcuts."

What makes Summers so well-suited for this role is his experience in sports television production. He started working at the bottom of the food chain in 1987, reading operational manuals at all hours of the night.

"I went from making a lot of money to making no money, but I knew there was a future," Summers said.

He started traveling as part of the Astros' TV crew around 1995 and eventually became close with Dierker.

Summers has mentored Putila, although Putila has done plenty of video work in other capacities. They sit near each other on the road but do not tag-team on reviews - unless someone asks for help.

"Pete is one of those types of people - he's extremely organized," Summers said. "He's extremely observant of the small stuff, which is what we need here. My approach is a little different because I can gather multiple data and processes no problem … but we pretty well agree on the outcome."

They have to think like players: Is this guy a base-stealing threat? What angle might I need on this play?

"The goal is to just before the game have all the camera (feeds) set up in a way that you're comfortable with so that you can immediately go to them," Putila said. "Everyone does it differently. But you can choose six cameras, nine, 12. And then during the game, it's just a lot of awareness - as if you were a fielder, a player."

Putila is a golfer. Summers, who has two teenage daughters, still enjoys shooting recreationally, with Astros players occasionally in tow.

They're fortunate to be part of a progressive front office that fervently believes in technology. Astros fans likely will feel fortunate as well if the majority of the team's challenges work. Manager Bo Porter is 0-for-1 after a confusing play at the plate last week in Toronto.

"We've continued to push the limits and the boundaries of anything that we can," Summers said. "I have a tendency of thinking outside of the box thanks to the U.S. government."